Nalbandian nails El Aynaoui to reach semis

Younes El Aynaoui's colourful campaign at the U.S. Open ended on Friday when the crowd favourite lost 7-6 6-2 3-6 7-5 in the quarter-finals to David Nalbandian.

Younes El Aynaoui's colourful campaign at the US Open ended on Friday when the crowd favourite lost 7-6 6-2 3-6 7-5 in the quarter-finals to David Nalbandian.

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Argentine Nalbandian, seeded 13th here, knocked Wimbledon champion Roger Federer out in the last round and proved too strong.

El Aynaoui, who has developed something of a cult following at Flushing Meadows, was unable to reproduce the form that allowed him to beat 10th seed Jiri Novak and seventh seed Carlos Moya in earlier rounds.

Nalbandian, runner-up at Wimbledon last year, will face America's Andy Roddick in the semi-finals.